Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm

PreS-Gr 1-Young children may be acquainted with this jolly character from Mrs. Wishy-Washy (Philomel, 1999). True to her name, the woman loves to wash everything, including her farm creatures. Tired of the "old tin tub/where all the animals go for a scrub," Mrs. Wishy-Washy's pig, cow, and duck rebel and run off to a big city, but they find it "as wild as a farm stampede." They stumble into lots of trouble and end up, dirty and tearful, in the "animal jail" from which they are soon rescued. Fuller's bold, animated watercolor-and-ink illustrations feature humorous expressions on stout, rosy-cheeked humans and silly animals. This gently rhyming text with just the right amount of tension will be a splendid choice for storytimes and welcomed by beginning readers.-Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

The queen of barnyard clean returns after a 23-year hiatus, along with her mud-loving cow, pig and duck. Only this time, the farm animals aren't so tolerant of her scrubbing. " Moo-moo!' Ee-ee!' Quack, quack, quack!' Bye, Mrs. Wishy-Washy, / mean old Mrs. Wishy-Washy./ We are leaving you/ and we won't be back.' " The three flee to the city ("where the barns are big," squeals the pig), end up getting into mischief (e.g., while looking for a meal in one such "barn [with] food on the dishes," a chef threatens to serve them up as "roast on toast") and they wind up in "animal jail." This new installment may lack the simple repetition of the original, but Cowley keeps this lengthier sequel easy enough for beginning readers, despite several tricky words (e.g., "stampede," "anxious," "doubt") sprinkled throughout the rhyming text. Fuller's bright ink-and-watercolor illustrations amplify the tale's humor. When the runaways end up in a hardware store, the artist imagines a comical chaos of upturned paint cans-fur and feathers erupting with splotches of color; the cow wears paint buckets on her front hooves while the pig sports a red pail for a hat. All the better for their plump, fuzzy slipper- and bandanna-wearing owner who comes to the rescue. She takes them home for a good wash, wrapping up an appealing story that resonates with the message: there's no place like home-baths and all. Ages 2-6. (May) Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

When Mrs. Wishy-Washy returns to give Cow, Duck, and Pig yet another scrubbing in the old tin tub, the animals declare, “No more washing!” They run away to the big city where the hustle and bustle feels like a farm stampede to them with no barn haven in sight. They get lost, wander into a restaurant, and stumble through paint cans in a hardware store, ending up in the animal jail. The chug-chug-chug of an old truck signals their rescue by Mrs. Wishy-Washy—and of course, once back on the farm, she gives them a good scrubbing. This latest tale of fastidious “Mrs. Wishy-Washy” is as delightful as the first. The watercolor-and-ink illustrations are down-and-dirty funny, from the animals’ facial expressions to Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s pink cheeks, bandana-covered curls, and red, fuzzy slippers. Even the typeface has a clean look; the easy-to-read, 19-point AvantGarde Demi adds punch to the rhyming text. Pair it with other “dirty” picture books for a rollicking story time. (Picture book. 3-5)